Historical pharmaceutical and medical sources are celebrating a common renaissance
not only due to their information content about old formulations but also due to their
remarkable attraction of rich and skilful illustrations. In the present study there
have been selected with the help of the Index Londinensis [1] almost 40 original historical
sources of the 19th century which have been analysed in regard to their content of their texts as well
as of their illustrations. Although text and illustrations served physicians, pharmacists
and botanists amongst others for a doubtless identification of species it could be
shown that approximately one third of the illustrations show mistakes in plant anatomy.
Furthermore it could also be shown, that copying was a frequent feature. However the
findings suggest that a substantial change occurred in the mode of copying. The until
then wildly common part copies [2 ] have been replaced extensively through entire
copies, which actually seldom reached the quality of the original. The analysed texts
contain a mixture of traditional medical applications going back on the ancient authors
like Plinius, Dioscurides and Galen and new insights of the upcoming sciences in the
19th century. Tussilago farfara (coltsfoot) was prevalently used as a remedy against cough, catarrh and mucous obstruction
of the lung but also against phthisis. External use was also recommended to cure dermatitis
and erythemas. Moreover in the 19th century the leaves of coltsfoot were still a widespread used vegetable.
References: 1. Stapf, O. (1931) Index Londinensis. Clarendon Press. Oxford.
2. Nickelsen, K. (2006) Botanists, Draughtsmen and Nature: The Construction of Eighteenth-Century
Botanical Illustrations. Springer, Berlin
